Andrii Zakhtei, convicted in Crimea in the case of “Ukrainian saboteurs”, returned to Ukraine.

Oksana Zakhtei, the wife of the former prisoner, shared the news.

She noted that the man was traveling through Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Zakhtei left the Rostov region of the Russian Federation on Sunday.

In February, Zakhtei was released from prison, but the Russian authorities did not allow him to leave for Ukraine and placed him in the Center for the Temporary Detention of Foreign Citizens in the Rostov Region.

On June 13, employees of the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia met Zakhtei at the Ubylinka border checkpoint and sent him to Ukraine.

On March 8, the State Migration Service of Ukraine refused to issue documents to Andrii Zakhtei to return to Ukraine.

Due to non-existent consular relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, the return of a political prisoner was possible only through third countries. Therefore, Oksana’s wife and a lawyer turned to Latvia.

Operation of 2016

Andrii Zakhtei was detained by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in August 2016. At that time, the Russian special service announced the detention of a group of Ukrainian saboteurs in the annexed Crimea, who were allegedly preparing terrorist attacks on the peninsula. The detainees were kept in the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow for some time and then returned to Crimea.

In the same case, Russian special services detained Yevhen Panov, who was released three years later. According to the indictment, Zakhtei, who was a private driver in Crimea, was supposed to meet the group and ensure its movement around the peninsula.

Zakhtei signed a pretrial agreement with the investigation. He was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in a strict regime penitentiary, along with a fine of RUB 220,000 rubles (about UAH 105,000).

At that time, the authorities of Ukraine denied Russian accusations against Ukrainians and called them a provocation by Russian special services.

Recently, the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine revealed the purpose of the operation that was carried out in Crimea in 2016.